Words Old and New, Used and Abused: Language Study in Advanced Composition.

To speak, write, and react to language with awareness is to live at least somewhat more fully than to be oblivious to the manifold nuances and potentialities of language. With this idea in mind, the rationales, strategies, and implications of three language-related assignments for advanced composition are presented. The first assignment asks student writers to identify and interpret ten examples of political language (in the Orwellian sense), paying careful attention to stale imagery, pretentious diction, imprecise meanings, and wordiness. The second assignment asks students to select eight major symbols and to identify their implications. The third assignment, in which students report on an incident or present a character sketch, focuses on language as a combination of interpretive and manipulative devices. The purpose of these writing assignments is to raise consciousness and increase awareness. (RB)